


Jearmin week summer 2015

by incredibly_cold



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Jearmin - Freeform, Jearmin Week, Jearmin Week 2015, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-02
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-04-12 15:03:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4483913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/incredibly_cold/pseuds/incredibly_cold
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seven chapters based on daily promts from tumblr. Prompts are the titles of each chapter, and any triggers (which there won't be many of) will be listed in each chapter. Also published on Fanfiction.net.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Talking in his sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Armin starts having nightmares, Jean feels like it's his job to try to help. But how do you try to save someone from something that isn't real?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the talking in their sleep prompt, Armin and his nightmares. A quick shout out to my dear friend Miranda, who kept beta-ing me even after I left the creepiest lawn ornament imaginable on her front porch just to scare her. You are the best. Also sorry about that. Also also thank you for calling and leaving a terrified message about it, I almost peed my pants in the store when I listened to it. Sorry again. Okay so trigger warnings for mention of sexual assault, which is mostly verbal, coming from the reeves company. Spoilers for Uprising arc.

Ever since the incident with the Reeves corporation, Armin and Jean had been sleeping beside each other. They had been loose friends for a while before then, but between Jean and Eren hating each other, and the different arrangement with their actual barracks, they had never gone as far as trying to be close when they were asleep. In their new lodgings, with everyone sleeping on mats on the floor, everyone was always much closer together. Sleeping side by side just made sense.

* * *

_On the first night after they had been kidnapped, both of them had a hard time sleeping. Even after seeing the despicable man who had been molesting him get punched in the face by his fellow decoy, he couldn't get the man's words out of his head. Even after scrubbing his skin until it was raw, he could still feel the man's hands all over his body. He had been shaking uncontrollably ever since it happened, to the point that it had been hard to eat. After struggling to down half his meal, he had given up and went to bed early. To their credit, no one tried to stop him, even though it was his turn to wash the dishes. He climbed the stairs to the large empty room where they all slept, and put his bedroll out in a spot in the corner. He rally didn't care to be next to anyone tonight. Especially not Eren and Mikasa. He had seen them looking at him while he ate. He hated the look of concern on their faces, and more than that, he hated how filthy and ashamed he felt. Surely they looked down on him because of what happened, even if it was unconsciously. At the very least, they would both think he was over reacting by being so shaken up over it._

_He laid down and wrapped his blanket tightly around himself. He remained there in silence, staring at the wall. He couldn't go to sleep, and quite frankly he didn't want to. He was afraid of the dreams he might have. After a while he heard someone else come upstairs, and he shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep. The other person, who had to be either Eren, Mikasa, Sasha, or Jean, judging by the weight of the footsteps, decided that out of the entire empty upper floor they had to lay down next to him. He contained his irritation and continued to hold still and hope that whoever it was would believe he was really asleep. If they didn't, then they didn't say anything about it._

_Armin spent the next hour or so trying to keep completely still. He could feel his heart racing, although there was no good reason for it to be doing so. He wished that it would stop, because it was managing to make him even more anxious. Finally he heard the lighter, uneven footsteps of Levi, and the candle was blown out. In the dark he allowed himself a shuddering breath, and then the tears started to fall. Once he had started crying, he found that he couldn't stop. He tried to muffle the sound of his sniffing in his blanket, but he was still worried that Levi could hear him. Everyone else was probably already asleep, but not Levi. And he wasn't exactly well known for being compassionate._

_God, this was pathetic. Nothing had really even happened. So what if some creep rubbed up all over his back and neck and shoulders? So what if he had whispered into his ear and made his skin crawl? He hadn't gotten close enough to find out that he was actually a man. He wasn't beaten or dead or physically harmed in any way. It shouldn't be that big a deal. He was just being weak and pathetic. Just like when he was a kid, and Mikasa and Eren had to come to the rescue, only this time Jean was the one who had to save him. Nothing was ever going to change. He would always be the weak link._

_Armin flinched when the hand came to rest on his shoulder. It was whoever had laid down behind him. Somehow knowing that they had stayed awake this whole time made him feel way worse. And even if they hadn't been awake the whole time, and he had just woken them up, that wasn't better. Either way, it meant that other people were being inconvenienced yet again by his weakness. "Armin, I'm sorry." It was Jean._

_After a brief pause, he rolled over to his other side. "What are you talking about?" He whispered back. As much as he tried to keep his voice even, it came out squeaky and frail._

_Jean didn't seem to notice his voice crack. Even if he did, he didn't say anything, or make any signal that he judged him for it. That was sort of nice. "I should have done more to distract them. I should have made a scene, like the real Eren. I could have done something, but I just looked away and tried to ignore you. I let him hurt you."_

_Armin shook his head vigorously. "He didn't hurt me." He pointed out. He tried to mask the sobs trying to force their way out, and he did manage to keep himself silent. He failed, however, to stop his face from crumpling or the tears from flowing faster. He was a mess_

_"He may not have caused you any physical harm, but he definitely hurt you. Look at yourself, you haven't been able to stop shaking all day. You're crying! He got to you." He reached out and took one of Armin's hands in his own. Gently, he rubbed his thumb over his knuckles to try to soothe him. It was better than the hand on his shoulder, because it didn't make his skin crawl. The other man hadn't done anything so delicate, so caring._

_Once again he was wracked with sobs. He was weak. Pathetic. People always ended up trying to help him, because he couldn't ever do anything by himself. They had to protect him. "I'm sorry."_

_"No, you didn't do anything." He had shut his eyes, so he couldn't see Jean's face, but he felt the other boy's two warm hands clasping his more tightly._

_"But I'm weak, you feel like you have to protect me. It's pathetic." He explained. It wasn't like he should have to actually do something to feel bad. The issue was what he made other people do. Even that creep had recognized it. It was his fault that people thought he needed protecting._

_He felt cloth against his cheek, and opened his eyes. Jean was wiping his face with a handkerchief. He was a little embarrassed when he wiped away his tears, but when he moved on do dab at his runny nose, he shoved his hand away. The other boy didn't seem offended by his actions. "Look, you are not weak. If anything, I'm weak. I haven't protected you once, even when I really should have done something. You've dragged my limp unconscious body away from a horde of titans, even though you knew you couldn't defend yourself from one while you were carrying me. You're a strong person, Armin. You're stronger than half of the people in this room." His gaze was intense. It almost seemed like he was angry at Armin for selling himself short._

_He shook his head again, more halfheartedly this time. He wasn't strong. Mikasa and Levi were strong, he wasn't like them. So what if he tried to help a friend? Who wouldn't? Helping someone he cared about didn't make him special. But Jean was having none of that. "You are. But next time, you won't have to be the strong one, I swear. I'll keep you safe."_

* * *

As the days grew longer, and the nights grew hotter, Jean noticed that Armin was sleeping more fitfully. He always slept in the fetal position, but recently he would toss and turn underneath his thin blanket. Occasionally he would whimper and curl up more tightly. It made him feel bad. He knew that his friend- no, his boyfriend. He was still getting used to that word. He knew that his boyfriend had nightmares sometimes. It was part of the reason that he wouldn't dream of sleeping anywhere else. He didn't even mind that Eren always chose to sleep on his other side. Well that wasn't quite true, he was pretty irritated about it actually. The benefits of being there to comfort Armin when he woke up just outweighed all of that.

As nice as it was to be able to help calm him down, he wished there was a way to stop the nightmares altogether. As it was, he had began sleeping more lightly. It didn't really help, but he felt better when he knew how the blond was doing. Lately he woke up at even the slightest sound or movement. Even if the other boy didn't wake up, he waited for a moment to make sure he was alright before he went back to sleep. Recently, it happened more and more often, to the point that Jean was more tired than Armin. All of that changed in one night, when it went from simple nightmares to pure terror.

Jean woke with a start. Beside him, Armin was shrieking as though he had just been stabbed. He moved quickly, in a panic, trying to find what was causing the screaming. As soon as he touched his boyfriend's arm, he got a punch to the face. It was a pretty weak punch, actually, but it caught him off guard. "No, get off me!" He shouted. His eyes were wide open, but they were blank, like he couldn't see anything. He could hear other people moving around behind them. He was shoved roughly to the ground by Eren as he yanked the blanket off of his friend, who was still shouting. "No, don't hurt him! Jean!"

He didn't know what to do. Eren and Mikasa at least, were making some attempt to help. At least he thought that was what they were doing. Mikasa had yanket off is loose pajama pants, while her adoptive brother unbuttoned his old friend's shirt. They did it without disturbing him enough to get punched, unlike Jean. Once he was in his underwear, they fanned him with his blanket. For whatever reason, that seemed to do the trick. He calmed down and stopped squirming. Jean and all the other people in the room watched in confusion, as the other two put the blanket down. They took care not to put it on top of him, and after a few seconds, Jeagar knelt down beside him and shook him awake.

Like any normal person, Armin was alarmed to see the whole team staring at him when he woke up. Glancing around the room, he saw that Connie and Levi were both standing. Presumably, they had been ready to attack whatever the threat was. "What happened?" Jean looked back around to see that his boyfriend looked deeply worried, liked he already knew what happened.

"It's okay, you just had a bad dream." The girl with the shiny black hair told him. Unlike everyone else in the room, she and her brother weren't the least bit alarmed. They talked to him as if it was a normal occurrence.

Of course, her explanation did not cover why the whole team was watching him. "And?" He prompted them.

"You shouted a little. It's no big deal." Eren stood back up and gave the rest of the team a look that clearly said they should all just agree.

"I'm sorry guys." As was frequently the case with him, Armin was clearly ashamed for making the whole team worry. Jean couldn't speak for the others, but he was more angry about whatever was causing his boyfriend to suffer from night terrors that he was that his sleep had been disturbed. If he could find a way to punch the bad dreams in the face and beat them to a bloody pulp, then he would jump at the opportunity. Not everyone felt the same

Levi sighed loudly and slumped tiredly to the ground. "Yeah, well sorry doesn't give me back a night's rest." He complained. The commander was usually rude, but him being rude to Armin about something he couldn't help was enough to make him grind his teeth in irritation. "I'm guessing you were too hot, since they felt the need to strip you? From now on you sleep by the window. Whoever is sleeping next to him can be in charge of making sure he doesn't wake up every living thing in a ten mile radius. For now everyone can go back to bed."

Jean was not giving up his spot beside Armin, so he decided to spend the next day using every opportunity he could get to discuss what he should do. For now though, he waited until everyone was settled down to ask him about his dream. "Are you okay?" he started out, simply. He didn't care half as much about what the dream was. As long as he was okay, he would be fine if the other boy chose not to tell him.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for worrying you." He couldn't even meet his eyes to get those words out. At that moment, Jean decided he probably shouldn't mention the whole getting punched in the face thing.

"What were you dreaming about, if you don't mind me asking? I heard my name." He tried to sound passive, but he couldn't really keep the curiosity out of his voice. While he may have been fine with not knowing, he would much rather know than not.

Blue eyes looked up at his with a pained expression. "It was me and Pastor Nick. We were tied up in the warehouse, like you and I were, and they were torturing him right in front of me. At first it made me a little sick, but then I realized that it wasn't Pastor Nick anymore. It was you. I was screaming at them to leave you alone and to hurt me instead, but they wouldn't listen." He told him, his voice was feeble and shaking.

Knowing that he couldn't save him from his dreams caused his chest to tighten, and he scooted over closer so he could wrap his arms around his boyfriend's waist and hold him close. "That would never happen." He assured him, between gentle kisses to the top of his head. He knew that when he was scared, getting too close to his face would overwhelm him and cause him to start panicking. He wasn't sure if it would happen in his current sleepy state, but just in case, he didn't want to cause additional distress. "Look Armin, I won't ever let anyone capture us again. We won't be hostages. We can carry concealed weapons and fight our way out even after the enemy thinks they've won. No one will touch you."

He felt a rather damp face nuzzle further into his chest, and a muffled "Thanks, Jean." Before he drifted off to sleep.

The next morning he got a rather rude clarification from Eren. Upon asking what he should do next time something like that happened, he had been smacked with a broom handle and told to back off. He and Mikasa would be the ones to help Armin from now on, and Jean could be all lonely in the corner. that had started an argument about why he had to sleep next to him all of a sudden. "Do you think I've been sleeping next to you because I want to see your ugly horse face every morning?!" His most hated companion shouted at him obnoxiously. "Mikasa and I have been helping him since we were kids, and we'll keep it up now, thank you very much!" He then stormed off.

Not for the first time, he wanted to shout back something like, "Well we've been fucking for months, so maybe you should rethink where you rank to him." but he couldn't do that with all the other people here. While everyone was well aware that they had gotten much closer, most of them thought they were just really close friends. Instead, he just grumbled about it and kept dusting. He would ask Mikasa, she was less ridiculous about everything, because she hadn't decided that they were arch enemies. Honestly, that Jeagar kid wanted to pick a fight over anything and everything.

He made a good choice. By the end of the night, he knew exactly what to do. He took a bucket of water and a thin dish towel with him up to bed, and laid down beside Armin. He had made sure that he would get there first by repeatedly walking through the pile of dirt that Eren had swept up just to make him start over, so he was't surprised when he heard an exasperated growl and footsteps stomping over to their old corner. Knowing that he had made the other boy angry brought a smile to his face.

A few hours after they had all gone to sleep, he heard Armin shifting and whimpering in his sleep, and he did as he had been told. He stripped off the blankets, got the cloth wet and wrung it out most of the way, and then placed it gently on his boyfriend's bare torso. Jean had told him that he should just forgo wearing a shirt to bed during the summer. The effect was almost immediate, and soon he was sleeping soundly.

Knowing that he was doing something to help him and protect him, like he had promised, made him feel better. He may not have ever been helpful in the real world yet, Armin still had him beat there, but next time he would. Next time he would save him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only we all know he won't because Armin is the one who saves him all the fucking time. Anyway, so this was sort of based off of true facts, because all of those are things you have to do to my sister, who has night terrors when it's too hot. Also she has punched me in the face when I tried to wake her up, so for future reference, if someone is screaming in their sleep, don't touch them. You may get hurt. Especially if they actually know how to throw a punch. Review to help fill the emotional void that is my soul.


	2. Mythology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A faun waits in a meadow to see the sunrise, and attracts the attention of the sun god. What will happen when the two of them meet?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So for the mythology prompt, we have Sun God!Jean and Faun!Armin. Sort of loosely based off of Greek Mythology, with Jean replacing Apollo. He's still basically the same person, though because it's Jean and he is also full of himself. Thank you to kiyumiarashi for giving me a reason for Armin to be where he was because I was drawing a blank. Thank you to my best almost girlfriend friend, Miranda for being my beta. Ily.

It wasn't very often that a mortal caught his eye. Well, that wasn't true. He had almost as many affairs with non Olympians as Zeus, and that was saying something. What could he say? Everyone wanted to be noticed by the sun god. It just wasn't often that it was anything more than a fling with someone attractive. That's just what he was planning on when he met a handsome faun in a sunny meadow one day, playing pan pipes.

Jean took on his human form to meet him. He was rather proud of his own body, since he didn't use it very often compared to his godly form. It was tall, with deeply tanned skin and golden eyes. His hair especially was enough to draw attention. The top half was longer and shaggy, and light brown, while the bottom was cut close to his scalp. This part was dark brown. He thought it made him look more godly, having two different colors in his hair. Humans didn't have that. It made him special.

The faun almost seemed to be waiting for him to approach. He didn't set his pipes down until Jean had sat down next to him. Delicate fingers lowered the instrument to his lap, and bright blue eyes met his. "What brings someone as handsome as you to a meadow like this?" He asked, with a coy little smile.

Perfect. A flirting handsome faun was the very best kind. "Well, I heard wonderful music as I was passing by." He explained. "I looked to see who was playing it, and found that the artist was just as lovely as his work. I had to come and take a closer look."

"Oh really?" He set down the lyre and leaned back, showing off his bare torso. He was pale and thin, and not exactly muscular, but something about the spatter of freckles across his cheeks and shoulders was endearing. "You sound like quite the charmer. Almost like you've had practice with that line. Tell me, how many innocent fauns have you used that on when they just minding their own business?" So he was playing hard to get? He clearly wasn't really irritated with the attention, he was just giving him a hard time. His legs were stretched out in front of him, their tan and white spotted fur gleamed in the bright sunlight. He noticed Jean was looking and pulled them in closer to his body. "I don't even know your name, and here you're eyeing me like a piece of meat."

"To be honest, I haven't used that on any fauns. You're a first." He joined his companion in laying back on the grass. "I'm Jean. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?" He was expecting awe and admiration, so he was a little disappointed when he didn't get much of a reaction.

"I was hoping that you would show up. I waited for the sun to rise just so I could see you." He kept his light smile as he plucked a few long strands of grass and began to braid them together. "My name is Armin. I've heard plenty of stories about you being wonderful, and I thought I'd wait up. No one else thought that you would come."

Armin's sky blue eyes were partially hidden behind his long eyelashes, completely focused on the task at hand. He didn't even wait for any kind of response. Perhaps he just assumed that the god would be flattered and not find it at all weird. Most of the time when any sort of mortal being wanted to contact a god, they would go to a shrine. Not just wait in a meadow and hope he would decide to make an appearance. "But you thought I would?"

"And I was right." He flicked a piece of grass across Jean's chin, and laughed. "I figured you would be around, since you were raising the sun and all. And music playing in the middle of nowhere should be enough to at least make you look over. If I waited somewhere with people around, then what would make me special enough to get noticed? It's not like I've got an eye catching physique." He flexed his arms for emphasis, showing off the lack of muscle. "So when they told me to go to a shrine, I ignored them. Out here it felt like I would have a better chance."

"Aren't you smart? Although I do have to disagree a little." He took his own handful of grass and started braiding it. "You don't look like most people. I would notice you right away, even in a crowd. Plus, I don't get a lot of fauns at my shrines, so that would still make you stand out." It was only half true. He generally tried to answer prayers from Mount Olympus and not get pulled into tedious things like properly sunning crops. He just said that because he wanted Armin to know he could contact him that way in the future. _If_  he tried to contact him in the future. He hoped he would.

"Yeah? That's good to know." He grinned. "Still, seeing you at sunrise is pretty special. And I got to play a little for you."

"And your music was lovely." Jean pointed out. He had already added more grass to his braid, and he was beginning to wonder what it was that he was meant to do with it. He hadn't asked when he started, he just followed the actions of the faun's nimble fingers. "So what is it that we're making here?" He asked, after a while. If it was going to be something elaborate he wasn't sure that he cared enough to keep making it. He could continue talking with empty hands.

"It was going to be a crown of flowers. I make them sometimes when I have nothing to do with my hands. If I had been planning this ahead of time, I would have picked someplace with more than just the yellow flowers." Armin shrugged. He took one end of the grass braid and looped it around. After testing the size compared to his head, he tied it off. "Some variety always makes a prettier crown. Not that it really matters, I just can't have you thinking I have bad taste in flowers."He plucked a few of the yellow flowers and wove the stems into the crown, idly.

He put the grass down, and picked up the pan pipes. "Then it's your lucky day, because I happen to be the best at making beautiful flowers. Well, not including Demeter, but definitely good. What color would go with those? You can come up with something completely new." He blew a few notes and looked back over to Armin to see that his mouth was agape.

"You..." He blinked uselessly, and plucked another of the yellow flowers. "You want to make me my very own flower?" At Jean's nod he blushed and thought about it. It wasn't every day he got his very own flower. "I like purple." He answered, after a long silence. "And those tall clustery flowers are always my favorite. Can you do that?"

"Of course I can do that, I'm a god." He almost found the question insulting. Almost. Knowing that he was trying to verify that his dream flower was acceptable made it more cute than offensive. It wasn't really necessary, but as he made the new flower he played a short little tune on the pipes. He thought it added a little something special.

The faun sat staring at the new flowers, which as he requested were purple and grew on tall clusters. After assuring himself that this was real, and he was not dreaming, he picked one and smelled it. "This is amazing, I've never seen one of these before!" He exclaimed, as he wove it in beside the pale yellow and admired the effect.

"That's because it didn't exist until just now." Jean pointed out, as if the blond could possibly have forgotten.

He watched as Armin wove in flower after flower, alternating between the two colors so that they were mostly even. When he was satisfied with his work, he sat up and set the crown gently on top of the sun god's head. "And now you have the first crown ever made from it. What do you think? It's no personalized flower, but it's got the most beautiful flower in the world woven in."

"It's just as good as a personalized flower, because it was made by the most beautiful faun in the world." He replied. Afterwards he cringed internally at just how sappy he had sounded. Sure, flirting was kind of the whole point of the conversation, but that was just too corny.

"Aww, you're so flattering. Scrawny, pale, and freckly isn't the ideal for fauns. I'm glad you like it." He looked down at him with his crystalline blue eyes, looking completely overjoyed. He didn't mind the corny line. Although, when he thought about it, even the worst line around wouldn't sound as horrible if it was coming from a god you had waited up until sunrise to meet. "I wanted to meet you because stories and songs made you out to be this amazing being, but they weren't really very accurate. You're so much kinder in real life. I never would have thought you'd make me a flower."

As stupid as it was to get excited about something that a mortal who barely knew him said, he felt his heart swell with pride. "Most people don't get a flower. You're just special." He admitted. "You caught my eye because you're lovely, but I like how you don't just sit around and grovel. It's hard to find someone who can talk to you at all when they know you're a god. Much less make flower crowns with you." While they had been talking, Jean had finished his own crown. It wasn't as good, which he decided to attribute to the fact that he was distracted and also had never made a flower crown before. It was still a good enough job to hand over to the faun. "Here, now we have a matching pair."

It wouldn't have been possible for Armin to smile any wider, or look more happy in any way. He looked up at the purple flowers, hanging just low enough to see at the edge of his vision, and giggled. "Can-" He cut himself off and looked down at his spotted legs, he bit his lip as he worked up the courage to finish the sentence. "Can I kiss you?" He finally asked.

"Nothing would make me happier." Jean replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god it's cute and I just love writing fluff. I also love writing angst but this is more fun. Remember, reviews make me feel more important as a person, so please take a few seconds to completely make my day. Seriously I will be smiling like crazy for the rest of the day if you review. Please I love you. Also we all still love you Apollo it was just necessary to replace you for this.


	3. Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armin didn't like the rain. Not since he was a carefree kid playing in the streets. Maybe Jean can make being stuck with going out in the rain a little more bearable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so day three is rain, and I've got this great pattern going where every other day is an AU so that's some swell organization, yo. As always, thank you to my dear comrade, Miranda, for making sure I don't fuck up terribly and publicly embarrass myself in front of the whole internet.

Armin used to love the rain, back when he was a kid. He would splash in puddles and stand outside until his clothes were soaked through. That was back before wall Maria fell, when he was free to do whatever he wanted. He grew to hate the rain when he was still a trainee. They had to train, even when it was pouring. Instead of running free, he had to run in a group, and try to keep up. He was never very fast, especially with all his supplies and equipment weighing him down. They would all come back to the barracks cold, exhausted, and drenched, and go to bed. No one else seemed to mind it that much, but the way that something he had loved so much as a child had become something that he dreaded really bugged him. He normally had a hard time keeping up, but with the mud sucking him back down, it was even worse.

When it started pouring, he was naturally determined to stay inside. There were no plans for the day, aside from cleaning. He didn't even mind the idea of scrubbing everything down from floor to ceiling if it meant he didn't have to go out in the rain. Levi would be fine with that too. He didn't want people tracking in mud. Now, Armin liked having a clean house, but he was nothing compared to Levi. If there was a single speck of dirt anywhere in the cabin, the whole group would get an earful. It made it easier to understand why Eren had always been getting on them about doing a better job when they first started living up here in the mountains. He had been dealing with this longer than any of them. It was a pain all right, but as long as it kept him indoors for a day, he was more than happy to make sure everything was sparkling. Or at least, that's what he thought.

"Arlert, Kirstien. Get the firewood inside. The tarps won't keep it dry in a downpour like this." Their commander barked, jolting Armin from the floor scrubbing that he had been enjoying so much.

Of course, the moment he was thankful for something it had to be taken away from him. He held back his urge to ask why someone else couldn't go out, and stood up. "Yes sir." He pulled on his boots with a heavy sigh and leaned against the door to wait for his boyfriend.

Jean was a lot like Eren in many ways. One of those ways was in his enthusiasm to do exciting things, like see how much firewood he could carry in one trip. Not as exciting as some things, but in the world of chores it was positively thrilling. He tripped over his own feet in his haste to get to the door, and 'accidentally' stepped in the pile of dirt that Eren had swept up. It got him a smack to the head with the broom bristles, but knowing him, the satisfaction of pissing off his rival was well worth it. As soon as they were out the door he turned to Armin and grinned. "So, how long do you think we can spend out here before Levi kicks our asses?"

"As little time as possible. I hate the rain." He grumbled back, a grimace on his face as foot slid in the mud. Great, that was just what he wanted. Unstable footing and a mess. It would be nice if there was at least some grass growing by the door to get rid f some of the water. The ground wasn't so bad even a foot in any direction.

"How could anyone possibly hate the rain?" His boyfriend inquired, unsympathetically as he walked past him to where the wood was piled against one of the walls of the shed. Armin had to run to catch up.

"Well, unlike you, I'm not all buff and fit and able to lift large quantities of wood." He griped. "Or run in the mud. For goodness sake Jean, will you wait up!" Luckily, his boyfriend wasn't a complete ass all of the time, and he stopped to wait for him. Then again, maybe he just wanted to bask in the compliments. He did like it when Armin mentioned how strong he was.

"That's why you hate collecting firewood. What's wrong with rain?" He asked again. "Other than the mud, mud isn't a good enough reason to hate rain." he added, for good measure.

"You don't get it because no one looks down on you for being weak. Back when we were trainees, I was always the worst at everything. Especially when it would rain. I would take almost a whole hour more than everyone else to complete an exercise, and all I got when I finished was cold food, a cold shower, and people laughing at me." He recalled. "You got there early enough for hot food and water, and people congratulated you for being one of the best. You've never had to deal with any of the negatives of being in the rain." It was the truth, even if he didn't include all of it. Rain also reminded him of his lost childhood, and all the magical and innocent things that he could never experience again.

"People laughed at you?" Jean asked, genuinely shocked. Armin was almost irritated with him, but the fact that he seemed so completely flabbergasted by the idea of someone not liking his boyfriend was sweet. He usually understood and empathized with people so well. It was nice that the one thing that truly stumped him was people who didn't recognize Armin as being a great person, and if not that then at least a genius who came up with excellent strategies.

He sighed. "Of course people laughed at me. We're in the military, Jean, if you're weak then you get laughed at. Come on, I think we should try to move half of the pile inside the shed, and only take the dry pieces in the middle into the cabin. We won't use all of it tonight anyway, and Levi won't want drippy, muddy logs inside." He lifted the corner of the tarp to better inspect the chopped up wood. All the wood on the bottom was soaked through, as Armin had expected. The whole pile was sitting in a puddle after all. They also hadn't gotten there in time to stop the water from seeping into the top layer of wood.

Apparently his plan fell on deaf ears. Before he could react, he was lifted off the ground and sat down on top of the wood pile. For a second he was worried that the whole thing would come tumbling down and he would be soaked in mud instead of just water. After all, the only thing to actually hold up the pile was the wall, and that was just on the one side. After assuring himself of its stability, he turned to Jean and frowned. "What are you doing?"

"It just seems like such a shame that you only have bad memories of the rain." Jean told him. As far as reasoning went, that was completely unhelpful. It explained almost nothing.

He sighed loudly and ran a hand through the other boy's hair. "Like the sense of accomplishment from doing our job, and getting to dry off. Come on, let's go. I'm cold and wet." It really was a downpour, his hair was drenched and clinging to his face. He might have found this cuter if he wasn't so completely miserable. The rain wasn't even warm, it was freezing.

"No, screw accomplishment and drying off. Those aren't fun." Hazel eyes looked up at him, looking very disappointed at his idea for a good memory. "I mean we  _could_  just follow orders like we do every single other day of our lives. That's totally possible, but don't you ever want to make any  _fun_  memories of when you're young? Maybe something like making out with your super hot boyfriend in the rain against the commander's orders?"

He had kind of expected that his idea would be something like that, but to bring up having a future full of regrets? That was a low blow. What he said wasn't a lie, Armin didn't really do things that were outside the box. Mostly it was because he hated getting in trouble. He didn't think about having fun memories to look back on, because he didn't see himself living all that long. Maybe he was being pessimistic, but there just weren't old soldiers in the survey corps. If you were no longer able to hold your own against a titan, or at least outrun one, then you died. That was just how things were. He decided not to bring any of that up. If there was one way to kill a mood, it was talking about your imminent death. "You know commander Levi, we'll get in trouble." He pointed out.

"What's the worst he can do, assign us extra chores?" Jean prompted.

"You've seen him beat the shit out of Eren, I don't want to end up in a bloody pulp." The commander didn't make a habit of hurting his troops. The only time he had really hurt Eren was in the courtroom when he had been proving a point. So it wasn't really a good example, but his point still sort of stood. Despite being shorter than almost all of them, he scared everyone at least a little.

The other boy still raised an eyebrow. "He wouldn't do that. He may be a scary guy, but he isn't cruel. Unless you count working our fingers to the bone, because he probably will do that." He took the one step closer that the woodpile would allow and leaned forward. "Can I kiss you?"

Armin seriously debated for a moment. On one hand, anyone could come outside and see them, which would be embarrassing. After all, no one else ever got caught making out. Partly because none of them were dating within the squad, but still. On the other hand, would he rather go inside where it's warm and dry just to do chores, or deal with being soaked and chilly and get to have alone time with his boyfriend? And Jean was right about him not having done to do anything fun. He wasn't impulsive. He tried to do the safe thing, for the most part. Not that he wasn't willing to do the dangerous thing sometimes, but that was really just if they were on a mission. It had never applied to when he would just be getting in trouble with his superiors.

He decided that this was one time he should be spontaneous. Since Jean was way to close for him to possibly lean down enough to kiss his lips, he settled with a gentle kiss to his forehead, while simultaneously pushing him away a little. Naturally, the other boy saw that as a way of turning him down. "You are  _such_  a goody two shoes." He complained loudly, although he clearly wasn't genuinely upset. He had chosen to be a couple while knowing full well what Armin's personality was like.

"And you're such an idiot." He tried to stifle his giggling as he pressed their lips together uncertainly. He was still so nervous they might get caught. He couldn't help it, the last time he had gotten in trouble... Well, he couldn't even remember it! An advantage of being smart was knowing when to keep your mouth shut, so even back when he was constantly running his mouth to other kids, no adults ever punished him for his wild ideas.

Jean was the first to pull away. "Did you just call me an idiot? I know we're dating and everything but I'll still fight you." When the blonde kissed him again, this time on the cheek, he shrugged. "Of course, I'd have to let you win. I'm way too tough to take you on seriously."

"You can keep on saying that, but I've got Eren and Mikasa to back me up." Again, their lips met, and this time Jean didn't break away to make a comeback.

Actually, Armin was quite enjoying this angle for kissing. Usually the other boy was taller, but the stacked wood gave him an extra foot easily. It meant that for once he didn't have to crane his neck back, and that things were a lot less painful. He could sort of see why his boyfriend was so much more eager to kiss when they were just standing around.

Unfortunately, he didn't get to enjoy it for very long before someone was shouting at them. "Oh my god, are you morons seriously making out?" It was Eren, storming angrily towards them through the mud. "What the hell guys? We're all working our asses off! Just because you are alone together does not mean you have to fucking swap spit! Jesus Christ!"

Jean looked up to his nervous boyfriend and winced. "Speak of the devil."

"What did you just call me?" Ready for an argument, as always, Eren took a step closer to him just to be up in his face.

In order to prevent a real fight, Armin hopped down and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Did you come out here to help us? Because actually that would be great. Some of the wood in the middle is probably still dry."

It did calm him down, but he still shot Jean a scathing look before he took an armful of wood off the top. "You bastards are still helping me on this." He muttered as he stomped into the chose not to argue and both scooped up armfuls of wood to get inside before it got soaked. By the looks of it, they had already wasted enough time that it was a bit soggy. Hopefully it would still light.

The three of them worked in silence until all of the wood was in the shed, and then they carried what was sort of dry back up to the cabin. For a moment Armin thought that maybe his friend would stay quiet about what had happened, but it didn't take long for that hope to be shattered. "They were making out!" He practically shouted, effectively alerting everyone to exactly why they had been taking so long. He felt his face burning under the gaze of all of his teammates.

"Really?" The one person he had been dreading most spoke up from the corer. He sounded bored as usual, but also mildly offended, which was not a good sign. "You disobeyed my direct orders just to suck faces? How disgusting." Levi went on. "I guess I have to punish you, right? Make an example or some shit. How about you two can finish all the chores. No one can help you, and we'll all sit right here and watch you to make sure you don't slack off again. That sounds fair."

The excessive high fiving and cheering (mostly from Connie and Sasha) contrasted sharply with the sinking sensation in Armin's stomach. It was still morning, and usually it took most of the day for them to finish when the whole team was on the job. In his opinion. that meant it wasn't quite fair. But obviously he was not in a position to argue, and no one else would. They were in for a long and tedious day. In light of that, both of them got to work quickly, in the hopes that maybe they could finish up before they wanted to do that, then they couldn't waste even a little time.

Surprisingly, the increased pressure of being constantly watched made them get the job done a lot faster. They did better on everything because they were trying harder, and they got things done on the first try. They finished only a little over an hour later than they normally would have. Their hands and arms  _were_  going to suffer for it, but they still felt good about it.

The second surprise of the evening, which wasn't actually a huge shock for either of them, came when they tried to light a fire for the night. The wood had gotten too wet to catch, and they were stuck without one. It was a small victory, but the angry curses directed at them from all the people who had watched them suffer and clean all day were like music to their ears. The cold food was less nice, and continuing to be cold even when they went to bed kind of sucked. Still, in the end Armin decided that he didn't hate rain so much anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jean and Eren fighting is just really funny to me so I had to include it. Also their rivalry (?) will be in the next chapter so if that's what you're about then tomorrow's chapter will be what you are all about. Also remember to review because I know where you live maybe and I will find you and put creepy lawn ornaments in front of your door every day until you do. And really who wants to deal with that lawn ornament disposal?


	4. AU of your choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armin attends the first soccer game of the season for his best friend Eren's team. He happens to meet one very cute and very friendly team member, and they get along pretty well. That is, until Eren notices.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And on the fourth day, it was decreed that you could write an AU of your choice. And I, being a nerd, asked tumblr what I should do. And they said sports AU! Thank you anon for your help, I am so appreciative. So here's a soccer team AU for all you shipper people. Also a quick thank you to my buddy, bro, homie, and amigo, Miranda. Thank you for fixing my mistakes because I definitely make them.

Armin knew nothing about soccer. That being said, he was one of the first people in the stadium for the first game of the year. It would have been smart of him to actually learn something about the sport before he went to the game, but he hadn't really felt the need to. He knew enough. If someone kicked the ball into the net then they scored a point. Also only the goalie could touch the ball with his hands. That was really all he needed to know in order to have a vague idea of what was going on, and as long as he had that then he was fine.

The reason that he was so eager to go to a game he knew nothing about was simple, Eren was on the team. He was going to be supportive, even if he understood none of it. Plus, he was kind of excited to see all the people that his friend was always telling him about. Like Marco, who was a pushover, and Reiner, who was surprisingly nice and helpful despite looking like a jerk. The one person who he was unsure about meeting was Jean. From what he had heard, that guy was an insufferable asshole, but he also kind of wanted to witness how terrible he was. It was kind of confusing, even to him.

The good thing about showing up as early as he had was that he got a great seat in the middle and front of the bleachers. The bad thing was that he had absolutely nothing to do. Mikasa wasn't there to talk to because she was the team manager, which apparently meant that she wouldn't be on the bleachers with him. Instead, he was scrolling through google images on his phone. Not everyone would agree that it was a good use of his data, but googling 'celebrities with dogs' had been one of the best choices he had ever made. It certainly helped pass time. Before he knew it, the bleachers on either side of the field were starting to fill up. And not too much later the game had started.

Armin was glad that he had thought ahead and asked Eren what color his team's, jerseys were. If he hadn't, things would have been much more difficult. Their school colors were blue, white, and grey, and they had blue jerseys. He didn't know what the other school's colors were, but their grey jerseys would have thrown him off a little. Anyway, knowing who was who made it easier to pick out his friend among the players. He couldn't remember what his job title or position or whatever it was called, but he knew what it wasn't: goalie. From what he could tell though, he was sort of in charge of stopping the other team, the Titans, from scoring goals, and not actually scoring them himself. He was still fun to watch though. If you could call people kicking around a ball fun. Normally he wouldn't, but Eren and Mikasa had been spending their time training and practicing, and he had to appreciate all their hard work. Once again, he didn't know very much about the sport, or any sport at all for that matter, but as far as he could tell, his friend was good. He blocked pretty much all of the shots towards the goal, at least when they were coming towards him.

As much as he liked seeing his friend playing his part well, he was a little bored with the lack of action. It was halftime, and only one goal had been made by each team. Maybe that was normal, but after a while he had stopped getting excited when the home team, the Scouts, would get close to making a goal. Chances were that it would be blocked again. Watching the Scouts trying to score wasn't too bad though. One of the players in particular, number sixteen, was very nice to look at. He stood out from his teammates, with his different colored hair, which is why Armin had chosen him to pay attention to when the ball wasn't around Eren. He was fast, and had been the one to make the first score of the game, and from what the blond could see at this distance, he was very handsome. His jersey said KIRSTEIN, which unfortunately didn't ring any bells. He knew a little bit about most of the players from his friends, but he also knew them by first name only.

If he had to guess, he would say that it was Reiner. He had heard that he was really good, and he looked like a bit of a douchebag, which is why it was shocking that he was nice. This guy seemed pretty friendly with everyone, as he joined the team, coach and Mikasa, so it made sense for it to be him. Armin hoped that the second half would go by a little faster than the first one. He was ready to congratulate Eren, and maybe talk a little bit with number sixteen. Not that anything would come of it, but he looked nice. Plus, it would be cool to talk to one of the people he had heard so much about. He hadn't spoken to any of them in person before. Technically he didn't go here, so he didn't know anyone but his two friends, who had switched to a different school when they moved across town.

It didn't take very long for halftime to be over, and for all the players to be back on the field, playing the game. First the Titans scored a goal, which was enough to make Armin worry that Eren's team would lose. Then he thought that was ridiculous because there were still thirty five minutes for them to score two points. In any other game he wouldn't have any doubt that two goals would be easily doable. He just needed to have a little faith in the team.

Another goal blocked by Eren, and the ball was going back towards the opposing team's goal. One of the other people who were supposed to be scoring (he heard someone call them 'forwards') got the ball, and was trying to kick it past the Titans. He zigzagged past two of the other players and sent the ball sailing toward the goal with one well placed kick. The goalie jumped to catch it, but by some unfortunate mistake, tripped and fell flat on his face. The ball hit the back of the net, and he joined the crowd in cheering. They were tied with twenty minutes to go, unless they went into overtime.

Since a goal had just been made, he figured that another one wouldn't be for a while. So he did what anyone would do during a lull in the game, and went to get a soda from the vending machine behind the bleachers. It took a few tries to get the machine to accept his wrinkled dollar bill, but finally he was able to get a root beer out of it. He was just on his way back to his seat when the crowd erupted into cheers again. He ran all the way back to his seat, and saw, to his excitement, that it was the Scouts that had scored. He didn't know which of them had done it, but he joined in for the dying claps. All they had to do now was keep the other team from scoring for fifteen minutes.

As the time ticked by, he got more and more excited. Every time that the Titans got close to the goal, he felt himself tense up. He couldn't think of the last time he had gotten this invested in sports. At one point he was sure that the grey team was going to score, but the goalie stopped it. Without tripping. Soon there was only one minute left to go, and the Scouts were still in the lead. The ball was close to the other team's goal, and while they were doing a pretty good job at blocking shots, they weren't doing so well at getting the ball to the other side of the court. They kicked it away again, and one of the forwards got it and started towards the Scouts' goal. It looked like they just might be able to get it. Suddenly one of the other players, this tiny guy with a buzzcut, kicked the ball right under his foot. He slid in the process and almost tripped the other guy with his body, but the ball was back in the hands, or rather, the feet, of the Scouts. The buzzer rang before they could kick it much further, but the crowd still erupted in cheers. All but the small section full of people who had come here to see the Titans, who shouted their disappointment.

For the first time, he felt elated with the outcome of the game, as he followed the crowd of students off the bleachers. Instead of going to the parking lot, he met up with Mikasa on the edge of the field. She as smiling and high fiving the members of the team. Apparently the guy who had kicked away the ball was named Connie, because everyone was cheering his name and patting him on the back. Eren noticed him after a few seconds and rushed over to give him an excited hug. "We're all going out for ice cream after we change." He told him. "You should come with us!"

"Yeah, I'd love to!" Armin answered, hugging him back. "You guys did great." He added, after a brief pause. His gaze had wandered over to number sixteen, who was talking to the goalie, Marco. Marco was the only other team member that he knew for sure. Goalie was also the only position that he knew for sure, which was how he knew who it was. He didn't look at him for very long though, because he didn't want either of his friends to notice. "I'll just wait with Mikasa, right?" He turned to her expectantly, only to see her shake her head.

"I actually need to take care of a few things, but there's a bench in front of the locker room where you can wait for Eren. You two can take your car, and I'll meet you there with ours." She suggested. Now personally, Armin didn't understand what a team manager would have to do after a game that would take very long, but he figured that it must be pretty boring if she didn't want him to come with her.

"Okay, see you then." Eren agreed, before he ran off to join the rest of his team, who had already started heading back to the school. Armin followed, but he didn't bother trying to catch up. He was just fine with walking, and he already knew where the locker rooms were, since he had been there a few times to pick things up with his friend when he forgot them. Plus, it would take him less time to walk there than it would for Eren to run and get showered and changed, so he would end up waiting either way.

By the time he got to the bench, there was no one left in the hallways. He hadn't really been expecting there to be, since they had practically started racing each other as soon as they were off the field. Armin would have thought that winning a game would have knocked out all their competitiveness for one night. Then again he wasn't a sports person, so what did he know? He sat down on the bench with his back in the corner and his legs laying out in front of him, and leaned his head back against the wall. This whole thing was kind of unusual for him, but he had a good time. And he was even going to get ice cream with the rest of the team. Maybe he would actually have to study the sport a little so he would have a better idea of what was going on next time. He could become the cool non-athletic sports friend. Probably not quite that, but still.

Probably ten minutes after he had sat down, he heard footsteps leaving the locker room, and sat back up to see who it was. Even without his Jersey, he recognized the boy with the wet hair as number sixteen. They looked at each other at the exact same time, and while Armin immediately looked away, the other approached him. "You know, if you aren't a part of the team I don't think you're allowed to be here." He said. His footsteps only stopped when he was right next to the bench.

"Oh, I'm just waiting for someone. He should be out soon." He explained, self consciously tucking his blond hair back behind one ear as he looked up into the soccer player's golden hazel eyes. He usually didn't get so nervous around people he didn't know, but being under the scrutiny of this guy, who as it turned out was even more handsome up close than he had been from a distance, really got him flustered.

"Okay, but you still aren't allowed to be here. They're afraid people might vandalize stuff, so people who aren't on the team aren't allowed in the school. So... You should wait outside probably." He grimaced. "It's kind of a stupid rule, but I really don't want to be kicked off the team if you vandalize something."

Armin was surprised, but he pulled his knees up to his chest and waved a hand at the now empty half. "There's no benches out there and I'm lazy, so how about you just wait with me. I can't vandalize if you're sitting here, can I?" He pointed out. The other boy shrugged and sat down facing him. "You were really good, making that goal and all." He started, conversationally. If he was sitting with this guy then by god he was going to talk to him like he had been hoping to out on the field. He still seemed pretty nice, even if he was a little annoying with his pointing out rules.

His compliment did the trick, and he visibly relaxed as a smile spread across his face. "Thanks! I was really excited that I got to make the first goal of the year. I mean, you don't get any awards for doing it, but it's still pretty cool!" He gushed, looking about as happy as humanly possible. "I actually noticed you in the front row. Do you go here? I'm usually good with faces, and I would think I would recognize you especially, but I don't think I remember seeing you around." He added.

Armin was taken aback by the player's words. "Yeah, I don't go to this school, so you've probably never seen me." He answered quickly, embarrased at the way his face was heating up. Usually the guys he talked to just to admire their faces a little longer didn't say things about him standing out to them in any way. He wasn't exactly a very stand out person. "But why would you remember me especially?"

"Because you're cute." The other boy replied bluntly.

He was pretty sure he could feel his heart stopping. This had literally never happened to him before. Sure, one or two girls had called him cute, and most of his relatives had too, but never a boy. Never, not once during the four years that he had admitted to himself that he was gay, had another guy called him cute. Not after they had gotten over the first glance thought that he was a girl with a really flat chest. Definitely not after they had heard his recognizably male voice. It took him a second of blinking stupidly at the boy before he could find his ability to speak. "You do realize that I'm a guy. Right?"

He got a confused squint for his question. "Uh... Yeah. Take it as flirting, take it as a compliment, either way. I won't get offended. It just kind of looked like you were checking me out." Despite apparently thinking that was his way of rejecting him, he didn't look all that upset. At the most you could say that he was disappointed. None of the horrible embarrassment that Armin felt any time that someone thought that he was hitting on them and got offended or disgusted by it. Either he was really good at feigning calmness, or he was much more comfortable with his sexuality. Probably the second.

Honestly, it would be hard to be less comfortable with your sexuality than he was. The only two people who knew about him being gay were Eren and Mikasa, and even though they had accepted it without hesitation, he had been sick with anxiety the week before and after, and was hardly able to make eye contact with either of them that whole time. Part of the problem was the complete lack of anyone who was openly gay at his entire school. He didn't know if this guy was, but hearing him say that calmed him down a little. "Oh, uhh no, it's fine. I kind of was. I just wasn't sure you could tell. People don't usually flirt with me." He managed awkwardly. Now that he knew that was what he had been doing, he couldn't hold back his grin.

"Really? Well that's a shame. You're a very cute guy." He put a slight emphasis on the end of his sentence, and grinned right back. "I assume your friend invited you to get ice cream with the rest of us, so I guess the next thing to do is give you my phone number. I really want to get to know you better." That caught him off guard. He fumbled around for a minute, trying to get out his phone, and open up a new contact. He almost dropped it when he handed it to the other boy, but with his sports-y hand eye coordination, he caught it pretty easily. And as a bonus, he didn't look at him like there was something wrong with him.

Eren came out of the locker room just as Armin took his phone back, and he looked up at him and smiled. "Hey Eren." He greeted his friend, who had stopped dead in his tracks. He smiled down at the name in his phone. Jean Kirstein. "Wait, Jean?" He looked up at the very friendly number sixteen, who he had still thought was Reiner, with wide eyes.

The other boy still didn't quite understand what was happening, clearly. "Yeah. Wait, how do you know Eren if you don't go here?" He asked, with a thoroughly perplexed expression. Within seconds, that look turned to shock. "Oh my god." At the same time they looked over at Eren to find him staring at the both of them with a horrified expression.

"Are you exchanging phone numbers?" He asked, very loudly. "What the hell Jean?! First you keep checking out my sister, and now it's my best friend! Is nothing sacred to you?! No one want's to look at your stupid horse face, you bastard!" He shouted, charging right across the hall to yell right in his face. He turned on Armin with a softer, but still utterly betrayed expression. "And Armin, how could you? I've told you about his awful pretentious personality, and you still talk to him? Why would you settle for someone like  _him_?" He practically spit the last word out, and shot another glare at Jean who looked completely appalled. Several of the other teammates had come out of the locker room to see what the commotion was about, and were now snickering at the scene in front of them.

The blond had never been so embarrassed in his life. "Eren, you need to shut up." He told him firmly. His embarrassment had turned into pure rage at his friend. "I'm leaving. Now. You can find Mikasa and get a ride with her." He then turned his blue eyes to Jean and gave him a halfhearted smile. "Sorry he's such an idiot. He just doesn't know when to shut up sometimes. I'll text you?"

"Yeah, definitely." Like the rest of the people in the hallway he looked kind of confused. Unlike them, he was also glaring at Eren, who for once wasn't yelling at everyone who did something to upset him. He was too focused on Armin to even be yelling at Jean for continuing to talk to him when he had just finished saying what he had.

"Okay. It was nice to meet you." He turned away with his head down, refusing to meet the eye of Eren or any of the six or seven people watching the scene play out. The layout of the school was really not made for quick exits, because the way to the door was down the long straight hallway where he could be watched the entire time.

"Armin, wait, I'm sorry." He couldn't see his friend, but he could tell that he really was sorry. And that he was trying to catch up. Not that it mattered, Armin was still really not ready to turn back and forgive him. And certainly not to have him ride in his car to get ice cream.

He didn't want to make an even bigger scene, so he waited until he had caught up with him to speak under his breath. "Please don't talk to was a really stupid thing to do and you know it." He still didn't acknowledge him with eye contact. He wasn't sure if he would have been able to even if he wanted to. He was absolutely livid.

Eren opened his mouth to speak, which was enough to piss him off right now all by itself. His words didn't lessen that any. "Yeah but-" He was cut off from what was clearly going to be him trying to actually justify what he had done, when the shorter friend's fist connected with his shoulder. It wasn't a very hard punch. Even his very hardest punch was pretty weak compared to most people. It was still enough to stop him in his tracks.

"Eren, back off." He growled, actually making eye contact this time. His friend looked startled. He had never seen him this angry before. "I am not speaking to you, I am not giving you a ride. I will not go out to get ice cream with you and your friends." He stated again. "I know I don't go to school here and maybe you don't think it's a big deal, but you just outed me to the whole soccer team. That was the first time that a guy has actually flirted with me, and I don't care how horrible you think he is, but he's really handsome and nice and I like him. You might have just ruined that for me, and it was the first time I've felt comfortable with being gay. I really really don't want to be around you right now. Probably not for a while actually. Go back and hang out with your stupid friends, and don't you dare do anything else to fuck up my slim chances of ever speaking to Jean again." He didn't wait for an answer before he turned on his heel and continued on his way to the door.

"I'm sorry. I'll see you later." He called after him. It was nice that he didn't try to argue again, at least.

Armin was still angry as he went out the door and stomped to his small, beaten up, blue car. God, that had been a disaster. He turned the key in the ignition and put the car in drive, and drove home in silence. He didn't even bother to turn on the radio. It was a bit of a drive to get back home, since this school wasn't actually where he went, and he spent most of it trying to relax so that his parents wouldn't say anything when he went inside. Once he was there he figured that he must have done a good job, because neither of them said anything when he told them that he had a good time but he was really tired and ready for bed.

Once he was in his room, he collapsed on the bed and pulled out his phone.  _'So do you still want to get to know me?_ ' He pressed send and waited for a reply. He could hardly even breathe as he stared at the phone's black screen.

A few minutes later the screen lit back up. ' _You bet._ '

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so kind of an abrupt ending but it's also getting to be a very long chapter and the fact that there will be future Jearmin is established. Sorry if I screwed up anything about soccer, I knew literally nothing about it before writing this and I still know almost nothing. Basically the minimum to feel like it might be an okay writing of one. Review like it actually matters to you as a person and not just to the lonely soul who is shriveling at her computer screen while trying to keep up with these prompts.


	5. Blood, sweat, and tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Eren's new hardening ability, the scouting legion decides it's time to try to retake wall Maria once again. They're confident that they can succeed, but what price must be paid to make such a great step?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt five, blood sweat and tears. Most of the tears are mine tbh. It worked out perfectly though because this is one of the cannon universe days and that means it's 1,000% easier to make it completely awful and miserable. So prepare for the emotional pain and turmoil that I've been holding back all week. I apologize in advance. Trigger warning for gore and death. Once again to Miranda, who I love with all my heart, thank you for beta-ing this.

It started out like a normal mission. It had been a long time since they'd had one of those. They were going to try to retake wall Maria. With Eren's new hardening ability, they were sure they could retake the wall this time. The only question was how many of them would have to die for that to happen? The new recruits were excited. They were so confident that they would be okay, and nothing would go wrong. So ready to see the world outside the walls and become well known and high ranking officials. They had never faced the titans in real life. They didn't know anything

More experienced people from the scouting legion were scared. They had been away from titans for a long time. It wasn't by choice, and they had still been in peril, but at least they hadn't been worried about being eaten alive. The idea of going back, of facing the same fate as all of the people he had seen, bitten in half or swallowed whole to suffocate and be dissolved in stomach acid. It was almost too much for Jean to handle. He didn't want to die like Marco. He wasn't alone. Everyone was silent at meal times, too frightened to speak. The new recruits would tease them, and ask what they were so afraid of. They didn't get it. They wouldn't get it until it was too late. They didn't even want to hear about why they were afraid.

Jean and Armin were paired up together, near the right flank of the formation. Both of them still remembered the right flank being completely wiped out by Annie in titan form. They didn't say anything about it, but they didn't need to. They were close enough to know what each other were thinking about. They were both aware of the other shaking as they saddled their horse and buckled on their gear. They didn't need to ask why.

"You're going to be fine." Jean had assured his boyfriend as they left the gates. He was lying. He knew that he couldn't promise that, and he knew that Armin did too, but he had agreed that both of them would make it, and that soon wall Maria would be back in the hands of humanity.

Things went well at first. The formation moved neatly and pretty much avoided the titans completely. About an hour after they had left, the two of them passed a pillar of steam with a few bones remaining inside. One of the titans had been a threat, but it had been taken down. There was no evidence of human casualties, but it was hard to be sure. Not all deaths left a mess. They hoped for the best and rode on.

It didn't take very long before the forest of giant trees came into view, and they both exchanged a look. They wouldn't be going in there this time. They wouldn't stand up in the trees as bait while they watched the horrible monsters who had once been people like them figured out how to climb. Their path would still take them right past it though, which made all of the veterans a little nervous. Fear was a difficult emotion to suppress. As the trees loomed closer and closer, Jean felt his stomach churning. He wondered if Armin was experiencing the same thing. In most life and death situations his boyfriend would give up and accept that the most he could do was try to make his death worthwhile. It bothered him to know that someone he cared so much about cared so little for his own survival, but at the same time he wondered if that made things easier for him. If you accepted death could you still be afraid of it?

The main forest was to their right, close enough for them to see individual leaves. If a titan jumped out at them like that one had at Erwin, then they wouldn't have time to run. It could snatch an arm. It was for this reason that Jean had purposefully made sure that Armin was on his left, with a bit more distance between him and the trees. It wouldn't do much good if the worst should happen, but it made him feel better. Just like riding about a meter ahead, so he could see threats first. He was the faster of the two, and he felt like if he was the first to see the problem, he might be able to take it out before either of them were hurt. He regretted these choices as soon as he heard the first thundering footstep.

It jumped out right as Jean was passing by. Late enough that it didn't catch him in it's gaping maw, but not so late that the other had passed by. He pulled on the reins to make his horse stop, but it couldn't maneuver fast enough. It felt like he was moving in slow motion as he used his gear to latch onto the titan's neck and propel himself towards it. He saw his boyfriend's eyes, wide with surprise, but not yet able to register the fear or pain as he was lifted from his horse by the teeth that had dug into his back. He had been only inches from being missed. The slice was gone from the back of the monster's neck before it could stop moving and actually eat the man it had just grabbed, and it collapsed, leaving Armin to fall from it's jaws and flop to the ground.

The first thing Jean noticed as his feet hit the ground was the blood. There wasn't very much yet, but the shallow red pool in the dent that was missing from his back was filling rapidly and starting to soak into his torn shirt. He also wasn't moving. "Armin!" He shouted as he ran and slid across the grass to his side. The hoarseness of his own voice surprised him. "Armin, are you okay?!" It was a stupid question. Even if he was alive, he definitely wasn't okay. He was losing a lot or blood, and if Jean didn't stop it then it would only be a matter of time before he bled out.

That's why he was even more surprised when the man, who he thought was unconscious, turned his head without getting up and waved a hand dismissively. "I'm fine." He said. "It didn't even hurt me. Just scared me a little." He even went to push himself up before Jean stopped him.

"Don't move, I have to stop the bleeding!" He shouted, as he pushed him back down. He wasn't sure why his boyfriend was putting on a brave face right now. He should be holding still so that both of them could fix him up as well as possible and got out. They were basically titan food out here. He fumbled around over the gaping wound, trying to find where most of the blood was coming from. He found an artery toward the bottom of the wound, that was gushing out most of it and panicked. He wasn't very good at first aid, and he didn't have much on him to help. The best he could think to to was tear off a strip of fabric from the tattered edge of his shirt and try to tie it shut. In doing so, he got his hands completely soaked in the thick red liquid.

"What are you talking about? I'm okay, I can move." He he protested, though he remained still enough to let his boyfriend treat what he apparently thought was a minor injury. That was, until he got impatient and looked back at Jean, who was trying to determine what to do next as he sat there with blood coated hands. "There's no way-" He started, as he tried to push himself up again, only to stop at straightening his arms. Then he started to panic. "My legs aren't working." He said, shakily. "Jean, why aren't my legs working?!"

"You're going to be okay, it's probably just shock." He lied. "Stay right there, I'm going to get some bandages." It wasn't like he could have moved if he wanted to. He was stuck there on his stomach. When the titan had picked him up it must have broken his spine. That was why he couldn't feel the wound. He couldn't feel anything. This was bad. With an injury like that you weren't supposed to move the person, but he had to. Out here they were sitting ducks. There would be no one to help them. At least if Jean could get him to the medical wagon then he would have a chance. He fumbled through the pack on his horse's back for bandages and finally was able to pull them out. The blood on his hands already stained the white gauze red.

When he returned, Armin was watching him. He couldn't help but notice how pale he was, and how dull his eyes were. Even with the artery pretty much shut, there were hundreds, if not thousands, of other veins and arteries too small to shut in the same way. He was still losing to much blood. Jean blinked back his tears and tried to look confident, for the other man's sake. "I'm just going to wrap you up so that the bleeding stops, and then we can get you to the medical wagon." He assured him. He wasn't sure if he was doing a good job keeping the shakiness out of his voice. He could hardly hear himself over his thoughts, which were shouting over and over again that the blond was going to die either way and he should just leave him behind and save himself. He wouldn't do that. Not after all the times he had been saved when his boyfriend should have just left him.

It was hard to wrap bandages around someone who could barely move on their own. He ended up having to roll him onto his back and have him hold himself up with his arms to be able to do it at all. Even then he made a point of doing it quickly. He did,'t trust that he had the strength to stay like that for very long. Once he had wrapped the bandages tightly over the whole thing, which took up most of his lower back, he began to think about moving him. He was going to have to lift him onto a horse, obviously, since he couldn't move anything below his mid back. They were going to have to be on the same horse too, because there was no way he could ride in that condition.

"I'm going to die, aren't I?" Armin asked, he looked up at Jean as he picked him up. His blue eyes, which were always bright before, watched him dimly. He held onto him with his arms, though his legs dangled limply over the taller man's arm.

"You're not going to die. It's just a scratch." He lied. Again, they both knew that it was a lie, and again, he didn't argue. He accepted the words of comfort, even though they were false. Getting him onto the back of the horse was a bit of a challenge. He wasn't all that heavy, but he also couldn't get his legs to go on either side of it. He tried to help a little bit by forcibly moving them with his hands, and by doing so he was able to get onto it, albeit a little awkwardly. Things were looking bad. Armin's skin was cold and his bandages were already soaked through. Jean swung up onto the horse behind him and tried to ignore the warm sticky feeling seeping through the front of his uniform.

Feeling Armin leaning limply against him, and he could feel the blood running down his front. He knew he had stopped being able to hide the fact that he was crying almost as soon as they had started riding, but he continued to talk to him and assure him that everything would be okay anyway. It didn't matter that he was lying. And he still continued to gallop at full speed toward the center of the formation, where the medical wagon was. They had passed a group of three and Jean had shouted what their previous position was in the hopes that at least one of them would fill the gap, but he couldn't find the ability to confirm that they would or to care if they did.

He didn't think that he would be okay. He tried not to think the words, but he was definitely dying. What had started out as quiet murmurs of agreement with Jean's continuous string of reassurances, were now just feeble statements of "It's okay Jean," and "I love you." The cold tear tracks down his face, feeling tight and dry from the saltwater drying rapidly in the wind, contrasted sharply with the wet warmth against his torso that was slowly starting to run down his legs too. And then the other man was too weak to speak at all and was only taking shallow breaths. He tried to make the horse go faster, but it was already at its limit.

This wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to be protecting him. Just this once he was supposed to be the strong one. The one who jumped in and saved the one person in this god awful military branch that he cared about most. They were going to live, and to help rebuild the world inside wall Maria. And then who knows, maybe they would find a way to destroy the titans for good. They could all go to see the ocean together. He wouldn't even mind putting up with Jaeger if it meant getting to see him go to the place he had been dreaming about since he was a kid.

Armin was supposed to live.

He could feel his companion struggling more and more with each breath, but they were close to the medical wagon. He could see it. "See that Armin?" He asked. "They're going to fix you right up. You'll be fine. Maybe you can even get some time off to recover!" He tried to laugh and sound convincing, but he knew he wasn't. It didn't matter how good a job he did pretending. No matter how he said it, it wouldn't be convincing. There was no way to fix someone once they had bled out.

He didn't get a response, and at this point he didn't expect one. The wagon was slowing to a stop so that Armin could be put in, and he stopped too. It took two of them to get him off the horse and laid gently inside. Jean got in too, ignoring the horse that had gotten them so far. Either it would run with them or someone further back would get it. He didn't really care right now. Soon the carriage was moving again.

Armin's skin was pale, cold, and lifeless. His eyes were shut, and his chest hardly moved when he breathed. None of the doctors touched him or tried to help. They could tell as well as Jean that he was done. They left the two of them alone and tried to look like they were to busy to see them or to notice he was crying. Not that he cared either way. The person he loved most in the world was dying, he didn't have time to worry about something as stupid as looking tough. He bent down closer to the blond's face and kissed him on the cheek. "You're safe now." He told him. "You can just go to sleep for a little while. When you wake up we'll go see the ocean. All of squad Levi, together. The water will be blue, like your eyes, and we're all going to have a good time." He laughed a little through his tears. "Levi won't know what to do with all that sand. He'll complain the whole time, but we'll all know he's just pretending, because he'll enjoy it just as much as the rest of us."

He thought he saw Armin smile, but it was hard to see though his ears. They dripped onto the other man's face below him, and he didn't bother to wipe them away. He didn't want to stain his face with the blood that was all over him. Instead, he let one hand rest on his chest, and the other to hold his hand until he felt the last breath leave him. That was when he lost his composure.

He let his face fall to his dead boyfriend's chest and sobbed. Hard. He couldn't stop the tears, and he didn't really want to. this was his fault. All of it was his fault. If he had just been riding right beside him then the titan might have missed them both. They might have both been perfectly okay right now. Maybe even laughing about what a close call that had been. Instead he would be leaving this wagon alone, with nothing left of the person that had been so full of life this morning but a corpse wrapped in a white sheet. He would have to tell Eren and Maikasa why he had let their best friend die. He would have to sleep alone, instead of back to back like they normally did. Everything would be different.

For the first time in his life, he truly understood Eren's determination to kill all the titans. He didn't car if they used to be people. He didn't care that the one responsible for all of this was already dead. He wanted each and every one of them to die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay bye I'm going to go cry a lot now because my baby is dead and my other baby is emotionally scarred. But really, I'm sorry for the angst, even though that was kind of the whole point of the prompt. I promise you that tomorrow's will be much more lighthearted. As always, please review. I know people say it so often that it doesn't seem like it's true, but every single review makes me so happy, and I do get genuinely sad when I don't get any. I put a lot of work into this and don't sleep like at all for two weeks so that I can get quality chapters out in time for Jearmin week, and knowing that my time is appreciated makes me feel like it's not a waste of my time and energy.


	6. Skinny dipping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmas time, and everyone needs a break from their family at some point. Jean's break includes swimming at the fancy resort with the heated pools. The only problem is that he forgot a swimsuit. Well, that and the fact that someone just caught him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number six already, it seems like only yesterday that all this started. Not actually, I've been doing this shit for two weeks. I am so glad it's almost over and I can finally read other people's work. So here's skinny dipping. Armin is 21 and Jean is 20 because he's a few months younger but they look a little different because they're older. Thank you to Miranda, for beta-ing this. You are everything to me.

Jean was very bored. It was Christmas break, and all his friends were either away visiting their family, or here visiting their family. Either way they were too busy to hang out with him, and what he really wanted right now was to have an excuse to stay away from home. It wasn't that he had a bad home life or anything like that, it was just that his mom was always so uptight lately. He understood that she wanted him to have a good future, but for once it would be nice if she could just shut up about it. All of his life so far had been spent learning one thing or another and getting straight As and getting part time jobs so he could learn responsibility. Now that he was in college and away from her, she was always trying to find some way to butt in and control his life again. Christmas had been the perfect opportunity. Every time he left out a glass, or slept in too late she was at him yet again. He had left the house about an hour ago when she had started nagging him about applying for more internships, which he didn't want to do because he was already busy and internships didn't pay. It was frustrating to deal with. He would go back tonight, but he just needed a little break, and he knew exactly what he was going to do.

There was a really nice resort in the rich touristy part of town. It was mostly full of old people who came down here to Phoenix to escape the cold weather, but thing he liked about it was that they had heated pools so you could swim even in the winter. For someone like him, who came from up north, it was the perfect place to swim, way better than an indoor pool. The one time he had brought a girl who was from around here she had been too cold when she got out to handle it, but that was just because people from warm places were wimps. He wasn't like that.

There were only two problems with coming here. The first was that you had to watch out for the security guards that came around at night and would ask for a room key if they caught you. He had almost gotten in serious trouble with them once. The other problem with him choosing to come here, was that he hadn't brought a swimsuit. It just hadn't been on his mind when he stormed out, and it wasn't like he could go back and grab his swim trunks and head out again either, then his mom would just be even more angry with him. Probably she would ground him for breaking the law even though she was the one staying with him and she really couldn't ground him in his own home. He was left with only one option. He would have to go to the more secluded pool with all the hedges and hardly any room to swim and hope to god that a security guard did not come by and catch him skinny dipping. He knew he wouldn't be able to get out of that one.

This happened to be the pool he had taken the girl to. The whole resort was sort of an uphill slope, since it was built on a hill, and in order to reach this pool you had to climb a flight of stairs. With that and the hedges, pretty much no one ever came up here. He knew that because he did come here pretty often. The only person who could possibly see him was the person staying in the room on the second floor at the end of the row. Their patio happened to have a perfect view of the pool, since they could see over the hedges. Luckily for him though, no one had ever seen him from there before. Or at least if they had they assumed he was staying there. Why wouldn't they? Then again he hadn't been naked any of the other times either. He decided that he didn't even care if someone saw him, as long as he didn't get caught by security. It wasn't like he was self conscious. He had abs and everything, there was nothing to be self conscious  _about_. That's what he told himself when he stripped and jumped in.

He enjoyed the warm water. It was almost like being in a hot tub, except it was cool enough that he didn't feel like a crab being steamed, and he could move around. Admittedly, the pool was only about twice as long as he was tall, but he could swim around in circles and pretend it was bigger. Plus it was his own fault for not bringing a swimsuit. The big pool was out where everyone could see. Plus, getting caught by security was a bigger problem down there. He kicked off the side of the pool, floating on his front this time instead of his back for obvious reasons. He did have a definite preference for swimming on his back, but given his complete lack of clothing he didn't feel comfortable with that. He did appreciate the lack of security cameras up here. Rich people were probably just weird about privacy or something, but he was thankful for it right now. Jean was actually starting to enjoy himself enough to outweigh the fact that he was nervous and uncomfortable. That is, until he heard someone clear their throat off to the side.

He jumped at the sound and rushed to cover himself before he even looked at the person. He wasn't sure how they had snuck up on him. He had been listening so carefully for footsteps. His wide eyes met almost equally alarmed blue ones, and he almost let out a sigh of relief. It was just some guy. Some non-security guard guy. Then again, it was still someone who had walked up to find him naked in the pool, so he still wasn't exactly relaxed.

"Why are you naked?!" The other guy demanded in a loud whisper, still looking completely horrified. He looked like he was around the same age as Jean, despite having more childlike features. He was wearing normal clothes, not swim trunks, like he had just been walking around and happened across a naked guy in a pool. That was probably exactly what happened. "You're going to get arrested or something! Public nudity is illegal you know."

"Technically it's only a misdemeanor if no one under fifteen sees." He pointed out in a low voice. He really didn't want anyone else showing up here. He wasn't even sure why he had felt the need to point that fact out, except that he had been arguing with someone about that just the other day. Jean had thought you could get in serious trouble for it, but apparently it wasn't as big a deal as he thought. Although that paired with trespassing... Well, the combination might be a bigger deal. Which is why he wanted this guy to leave. "Okay, look. I don't have a swimsuit and I didn't notice until I was already here. No one ever comes up here usually so it's fine." He hissed, as he walked over to the side of the pool so he could have a bit more covering.

"You are such an idiot! I saw you from my patio, so you aren't hidden that well." He threw a bundle of fabric to the ground. "Here, take one of these. I don't care if it's only a misdemeanor, you're bothering me." He flicked a loose strand of blonde hair from his ponytail off of his shoulder, and for the first time Jean noticed how red his face was. So he hadn't just happened to find a naked man on a pool when he was out on a walk. He had been unfortunate enough to see him out his door and then intentionally come out here to speak to him. Or at least reprimand him.

With the cement wall of the pool covering his front side, he reached out to gingerly pick up the object closest to him and found that it was a swimsuit. A huge swimsuit. He frowned up at the blond guy. "I don't think it'll fit."

"Then take another. I told you I saw you from the patio. I grabbed all the swim trunks." He reached down and snatched the pair out of Jean's hand with an irritated sigh.

So he got trunks from his whole family to give to the strange naked man in the pool. That was nice of him, Jean supposed. He picked up a second pair and found that they were tiny. Much too small for him. The third pair looked better, close enough to work at least. He grabbed them and put them on under the water. The fact that the other man looked away while he dressed didn't escape his notice. He appreciated it, because he was sort of embarrassed about this whole thing. The trunks did fit him pretty well once he tightened the drawstring a little. "Thanks, man. I'm Jean, what's your name?" He figured they might as well know each other's names, given their manner of meeting. Plus he kind of wanted to have a name in his mind other than the crazy naked guy from the pool.

Unsurprisingly, he hesitated a little before he answered. "I'm Armin. So uh, what made you decide you had to swim even though you forgot your suit?" He asked. It was a fair question, coming from someone who assumed he was staying here. He figured he could answer honestly though. If he didn't call security on the skinny dipper, then he probably wouldn't on the trespasser either.

"Well, I drove all the way over here to swim, and I didn't feel like going home right away." He shrugged. "Anyway, what made you decide to bring me a suit? You know, instead of notifying the proper authorities. Not that I don't appreciate it, but personally I wouldn't have brought me this." With the addition of clothing he felt more free to move around. "But I do appreciate it Armin."

"Well, I didn't like looking out the door and seeing someone naked. It makes me a little uncomfortable." Armin sat down cross legged on the edge of the pool and watched him. He did seem a bit less anxious now that the man he had just met was clothed. Now that he was sitting, it became apparent that he was pretty short. It had been harder to tell when he was standing up that much higher. "But what's the deal with you? You decided to swim here illegally and then you decided that since you had driven you would break a second law? Why not swim in your underwear and keep it at one offense?"

He made an excellent point. One that he hadn't considered when he got in the pool. "Good question." He stated simply, as he let himself sink under the water. He stayed there for a second before he popped back up and smoothed his hair back. "I've got one too though. That tiny pair of swim trunks, are they yours?" At first he had sort of assumed that they were a little brother's or something, but there was no way that the ones he was wearing now were small enough to fit the other man.

"Okay, they aren't that tiny. I didn't come out here so you could pick on me, you know." He huffed, with a frown at Jean. I can tell you the room number and you can just leave those for me when you go home."

"Hey, I'm not picking on you. I was going to say that if it is yours, then you should join me. I just don't think we wear the same size, so those have to be yours." He swam back to the edge and rested his chin on the side of the pool. "It's nice and warm in here, you'll like it. We can chat or whatever. I assume you go to college, I also go to college. That's a fun similarity."

He considered it for a minute and shrugged. "Okay, I don't really feel like being around my family right now anyway." He told him, very firmly. He then got up and took his swimsuit to the bathroom to change into, which fit so perfectly with the image he had come up with for his personality that Jean almost laughed. Sure it was his preference, and that was fine and respectable. It was funny that he felt the need for modesty at this point though, considering he way they just met. After a minute or two he came back and put his neatly folded clothes on one of several chairs around the pool where there was a towel that he hadn't noticed before. He hadn't thought about a towel. Also fitting his behavior so far was the fact that he got into the water using the steps.

"So, why don't you want to be around our family? Are they too strict? Are you like the wild card out of all of them or something?" He asked, jokingly. With the care he took with his clothes and how he went out of his way to stop a crime like skinny dipping, there was no way he could possibly be the rebellious child. He looked nervous just being in the pool with a trespassing hooligan like Jean. At least he assumed that was why he was nervous. Maybe now that they were actually talking he was getting all shy, there was really no way to know.

"Pretty much. You know how family is, always nagging you for one thing or another. And I grew up as an only child with my grandparents, so there isn't anyone else for them to pick on. I like to think if mom and dad were still around then it would be spread out a little more evenly." He snorted.

It was kind of nice to hear that. He had been thinking that he was a jerk for getting upset with his mother for nagging him, but here was this other model child also getting picked on by family. "Yeah, I left because my mom was doing the same thing. She can always find something wrong with whatever I'm doing. It doesn't seem like it was so bad before college. Do you think it's because we get used to not having rules, or because they feel like they can't control us anymore?"

"I don't know. It's probably a little of both. Like, my grandparents think that I'm not taking care of myself because I'm too skinny and my hair is too long." He explained. Jean could definitely see that being a concern. He  _was_  skinny, probably just because a lot of people their age were, and his hair  _was_  long. It was hard to tell how long exactly since it was up, but probably close to shoulder length. "So they're trying to make me eat more and grandpa keeps coming at me with the scissors. But really I just like it this length and I haven't had them making me cut it all the time for a few years now."

"That's probably true." He nodded. Usually he thought of things as being more black and white, so he never really considered things being two sided. He just assumed that one of them was being unreasonable "How long is your hair though? I mean I like it, I think it works on you. I just cant really tell right now."

Armin pulled out the ponytail and shook his head a little to let it fall forward. It was just barely past his shoulders, nice, and smooth, and super straight. It looked nice on him, but he could see where old people would hate it. "It's kind of long, I'll admit, but if it's much shorter I can't put it up. And I don't want it to be really short, because then I'll look even more baby faced."

"Yeah, I like it." Jean agreed. "I hope this doesn't gross you out or anything, but you're actually really good looking. Hair and all." If it were him, it wouldn't gross him out, but not everyone else was him. Some men would be very put off by having a half naked man call them attractive while they themselves were also half naked. Sometimes it wasn't a problem, but sometimes it was. Not everyone was a confident bisexual.

Armin blushed and looked down at the surface of the water. His red cheeks were illuminated from below by he bluish light of the pool. "Oh, thank you." He stammered. "You're pretty good looking yourself."

He had just intended to be nice and give a compliment, but that unexpected twist was even better. "Thanks. Are you from around here?" It came off as a little forward, but he didn't mind. He had already broken two laws and by god he was going to try to get a date out of it. What's a better first meeting story than skinny dipping in a pool on private property?

"Yeah, I go to Arizona State." The blond answered. His cheeks were still pink and he couldn't seem to stop smiling, which made him that much cuter. Plus that meant that he was actually available and not just here for the holidays.

Jean swam a little closer. "I guess I haven't seen you around. I also go to Arizona. Maybe we could get together sometime and like trespass and visit a nice pool or something." He suggested. "Or even do something that's legal. That would be pretty wild."

"You know I think I have the perfect idea. What if you came over to these very same nice pools on New Year's Eve  _with_  your swimsuit. It'll be totally legal because you're with me, and you'll still get all the fun of not having to spend money to get in. What do you think? Sound like a plan?" He brushed his hair back from his face and grinned, showing off his perfect smile.

"For you, I guess I could wear clothes to the pool." He agreed, "Sounds like a perfect plan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loosely based off of an actual place in Phoenix! A place where I have in fact trespassed and swam during Christmas break and been caught by a security guard. I did not get in trouble because I told him I left my key in my room and he believed me. Also the trunks he uses are Eren's. The ones that were too big were Armin's grandpa's. Thank you so much for reading and don't forget to review to fulfill my lifelong dream of being recognized as a sentient being.


	7. Stolen glances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armin has a training accident, and once he finds out why, Jean can't help but tease him about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the seventh and final prompt we have stolen glances. It's been cool getting to do another one of these things and hopefully I'll be able to do the winter one because hopefully it will not be finals week next time. Shout out to Miranda, who not only Beta-d this whole thing, but also helped me take a break and watched a shitty movie with me and also walked through spider webs and said it's better than if I had. Seriously I love you so much you are the best.

Sometimes it was hard not to look at Jean. He was just so handsome with those hazel eyes and his wonderful cheekbones. Of course, that could be a problem when they were training with 3d maneuver gear. They didn't have much occasion to use it, now that they were all basically fugitives from the law, but Levi still had them train in the forest. It would be unfortunate if their abilities got rusty and then they suddenly needed them. Besides, keeping a good knowledge of formations and the way that their teammates maneuvered served them well in all kinds of missions.

Jean was beautiful when he used the gear. He had always been more efficient with it than the others in their class, but he had kept improving. It looked so natural when he swung from tree to tree. It was natural, like that was something he was meant to do. Like walking or running were to most people. Armin found it mesmerizing. That was why, as he watched his boyfriend, he didn't notice the tree right in front of him. Not until it was too late to do anything but try to shield his face with his arms.

There was a loud thud as he made impact, and then he was he started to fall, only to be caught by the wire that had pulled him into the tree. While his face had been spared the initial impact, his temple slammed into the trunk when he stopped. He hung there, disoriented, for several second before he heard someone land on a branch underneath him.

"Are you okay?" It was Jean, and he sounded understandably concerned. It wasn't every day that one of your team members just ran smack into a tree for no apparent reason. He probably thought there was something wrong with the 3d maneuver gear. It would be so much better if that had been something wrong with his gear. Better for his dignity at least.

"I'm fine, just a little dizzy." Armin answered after a pause. He looked around for a branch he could get onto with any kind of dignity and saw one about four feet directly below him. Seeing that, he detached himself from the tree and landed clumsily on his feet. Maybe if there was any sense of justice in the world then Jean would just be happy that he was okay and not ask him anything about why he crashed into a tree. Its not like he could lie and say there was something wrong because then when Hangi went to fix it she would know that there was nothing wrong.

There was no such luck. He knew it as soon as Jean climbed up to the same branch. "What happened? I've never seen you crash into something like that. Did one of the straps on your harness break or something?" He was visually checking all the straps that he could see, but there wasn't anything there. Everything was fully functional, except for his ability to focus at the right time. This was by far the most embarrassing way he had ever gotten hurt.

"I uh..." He trailed off to pick a leaf out of his hair. "I got distracted." He told him, rushing his words a little in his effort to sound casual. That was probably the way to sound as un-casual as possible, which made his face turn a little red. Seriously, if Jean found out that the reason he had run straight into a tree was because he had been looking at him, then he would never hear the end of it. Not that he could blame him. If their positions were switched then Armin would also tease him about it for the rest of his life. It was just funny.

Of course, getting distracted was kind of a vague explanation, and Jean wanted to know just what was so interesting that it could make a smart fully trained person like him so interested that he would take his eyes off of his path. "What, did you see the colossal titan?" He snorted. "Maybe you should stop thinking all the time. You gotta have your head in the mission. I know we're training but you still can't space off like that. You're going to get hurt for real."

Armin liked to think he was pretty level headed, but something about that comment pissed him off. "Okay, I'm not a moron. I don't space off when I'm in a dangerous situation, Jean." He argued. "I don't appreciate you patronizing me."

The taller man raised his hands defensively. "Fine, then why did you crash into a huge, very visible tree?" He demanded. "Because people who aren't spacing out usually don't do that."

He snorted "Never mind. Let's just go back home." His head hurt a lot and he was still a little off balance, so there was no sense in his continuing. It would be better if he just went back to the cabin and made sure his head injury wasn't anything serious. He was pretty sure it wasn't, but still, he wasn't going to be able to operate the 3d maneuver gear like this.

"You want me to go with you when you won't even give me a good reason for crashing into a tree like that?" He asked, as though it was a reasonable thing to be in disbelief of. "That's stupid. What am I supposed to tease you about on the way back?" As much as Armin loved the fact that his boyfriend had a sense of humor, he wished that he could have a little more concern with the fact that he had suffered a head injury than he did with making fun of him for the way he got it. It was hard to be mad at him for it though, since that was such a huge part of his personality.

"I don't know, maybe dating you." Armin suggested, playfully. "How about you don't tease me at all, and you just take care of your dizzy boyfriend with a head injury. That could be just as fun. People might even compliment you on your chivalry." He sat down and tried to reach the next branch with his foot so that he could climb down more carefully. If the uninjured one wasn't going to be remotely helpful, that didn't mean he was going to sit around doing nothing.

"I can be chivalrous and still make fun of you for running into a huge tree." Jean scoffed, as he scooped up the shorter man and jumped off of the branch with no regard to what was below. Armin knew the drill, he had been carried on more occasions than he would have liked. He adjusted himself to make sure he wasn't in the way of the gear and held on tight.

The one thing he didn't like about doing this with Jean, was that he used very little gas and mostly swung around. As nice as that was to watch, it felt like a lot of plummeting with absolutely no control when he was a passenger. He just tried not to look around much, and instead focus on the man who was carrying him, which was exactly what he had been doing in the first place, before he crashed. He really was good looking. Sometimes he forgot about that, with the limited amount of exposure he had to other people to compare him to, but up close it was undeniable. He had a strong jaw, nicely defined cheekbones, and a perfectly straight nose. And his eyes were beautiful. It was so rare that he got to see him this close without getting some sort of smug comment, but with him focused on maneuvering through trees that were pretty close together, he had the perfect opportunity.

It didn't take very long for them to reach the edge of the woods, where Jean set him down. Armin thought that maybe he had been discreet enough that his boyfriend hadn't noticed anything, because he walked with him the rest of the way to the cabin and up the front steps without saying a word about it. That is, until he opened the door for him."So, did you get a nice view?" He asked with a little grin.

"Shut up!" Armin brushed past him and sat down at the table. "We're kind of dating, I should be allowed to look at you if I want to and not get made fun of." He was kind of being a hypocrite, because if Jean had gazed at him like that for the same amount of time, he definitely  _would_  tease him. But that was partly because he wasn't the handsome one. By being the handsome on in the relationship he had pretty much signed up to be stared at every now and again.

"Mhm. Be honest with me here, because I've seen you staring at me when we've been training before. Did you hit that tree because you were watching me?" He had the stupidest, most infuriating grin on his face. Armin was mortified.

"You can just go to hell Jean Kirstein."

He wasn't offended that he had been told to go to hell. On the contrary he looked absolutely delighted. "Oh my god you did! This is the best thing that's ever happened to me!" He giggled, as he plopped down across from Armin. "You are seriously the cutest, I can't believe you ran into a tree because you were looking at me! Oh god you're the best."

He could feel how red his face was. "Don't even talk to me right now."

Jean just got up and wrapped his arms around him from behind. "It's not like you can help it, obviously my dashing looks are a huge distraction to the team." He kissed him on his good cheek. It was sweet, even if he was a complete idiot.

"You're right, it's completely your fault." He agreed, as he leaned his head back against the taller man's shoulder. "Which means you get to do everything for mme today. You know, since I have such a grievous head injury."

"That's fine with me." Jean stood up, and walked back around the table to sit in front of him. "Can't have you feeling deprived of getting to look at me, can I? I'll stay right where you can see me without running into trees."

Jean may get on his nerves, but he still loved him. "Good."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now it's over and I can sleep at night. Goodbye please review I really like reviews.


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